Exceptional Live Music (and Local to boot)

Last weekend I drove to the next city to spend most of the day at the Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival. This is a 2 day live music festival, packed with lots of big name and local artists.

The highlight of the event wasn’t actually the main acts that I’d planned to see but they were exceptional. I was really impressed by the local acts who graced the stage in the atrium of the venue. Different styles were presented from Acid Jazz (complete with Wah Wah Trumpet!), traditional Blues, Latin and straight ahead Swing.

The major downside is I can’t for the life of me recall any of the act’s name. However, they were all local and they sounded great.

There is some great local talent near me and I believe near you wherever you live – you just have to search for it! The other thing that caught my attention is although anyone could enjoy the FREE music, it was packed with people listening, dancing and enjoying the music. It’s great to see people loving real music – 100% live!

Looking at the festival’s website – I remember this band below was playing as we walked in. Great song, sound and feeling. Check it out:

Jim Mullen

The two acts that I was there to see had great guitarist involved. The first was Jim Mullen, who plays a lot like Wes Montgomery – which is a really poor description. He’s a fantastic straight ahead bebop jazz guitarist. I didn’t take any footage but there’s a ton of stuff on the trusty YouTube. Check out a few of his tracks below:

Imelda May

The other artist that I saw was Imelda May. She’s a rockabily singer from Ireland. It’s her husband on guitar, who is just phenomenal. I have his signature guitar, i don’t sadly play anything like him tho! Check them both out: